Dow Chemical 2014 Annual Report Download - page 56

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 56 of the 2014 Dow Chemical annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 186

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152
  • 153
  • 154
  • 155
  • 156
  • 157
  • 158
  • 159
  • 160
  • 161
  • 162
  • 163
  • 164
  • 165
  • 166
  • 167
  • 168
  • 169
  • 170
  • 171
  • 172
  • 173
  • 174
  • 175
  • 176
  • 177
  • 178
  • 179
  • 180
  • 181
  • 182
  • 183
  • 184
  • 185
  • 186

32
Other notable events and highlights from 2014 include:
In the first quarter of 2014, the Company's joint venture membrane chlor-alkali manufacturing facility with Mitsui & Co.,
Ltd., Dow-Mitsui Chlor-Alkali LLC, successfully initiated full-scale, commercial production. The new facility has a
nameplate capacity of approximately 800 kilotons per annum (KTA) of chlorine. This new, world-scale manufacturing
facility will replace 800 KTA of older capacity at Dow's Freeport site. The joint venture is a variable interest entity and is
included in Dow's consolidated financial statements.
During the week of April 20, 2014, the Company's Plaquemine, Louisiana, manufacturing site experienced two separate
process incidents that resulted in the disruption of ethylene production at the Company's LA-2 and LA-3 ethylene
production facilities. The LA-3 facility resumed production of ethylene on May 8, 2014 and the LA-2 facility resumed
production of ethylene on May 16, 2014.
On May 2, 2014, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, announced their decision to not move
forward with a proposed joint venture to construct a linear alpha olefins facility on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Accordingly, the
Company terminated its initial agreement for a long-term ethylene off-take arrangement with the proposed joint venture.
The Company is evaluating several high-return, alternative uses for the ethylene that was included in this arrangement.
Further, Dow will continue to access its existing supply network of linear alpha olefins.
On June 30, 2014, the Company started construction of its world-scale ethylene production facility at Texas Operations in
Freeport, Texas. The facility will have a nameplate capacity of approximately 1,500 KTA and will support market growth
and expansions in Dow's industry-leading Performance Plastics franchise. The facility is expected to start up in the first
half of 2017.
On July 22, 2014, the Company's Fort Saskatchewan manufacturing site in Alberta, Canada, experienced an unplanned
outage of its ethylene production facility. On July 29, 2014, the facility resumed ethylene production at a significantly
reduced rate. The facility returned to normal operations in September.
On September 17, 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued deregulation decisions for Dow AgroSciences LLC’s
ENLIST™ Corn and Soybean events. On October 15, 2014, the Company announced it received registration from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency for ENLIST DUO™, the companion herbicide for use with ENLIST™ Corn and
Soybeans, in six key states.
On September 24, 2014, the Company announced it commenced construction of the world's first, large-scale, cadmium-
free quantum dot manufacturing facility at Dow's Cheonan, South Korea, manufacturing site. Production at the new facility
is expected in the first half of 2015.
On October 2, 2014, the Company announced it signed a definitive agreement with ExxonMobil Chemical Company for
an ownership restructure of Univation Technologies, LLC ("Univation"), which will result in Univation becoming a wholly
owned subsidiary of Dow. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2015, pending regulatory approvals.
On October 2, 2014, the Company announced the AgroFresh business is being marketed for divestment, in line with the
Company's plans to divest non-strategic businesses and assets.
On November 12, 2014, the Company announced new reportable segments which reflect Dow's strategy to be low-cost and
fully integrated across key value chains.
On November 12, 2014, the Company announced it signed a definitive agreement to sell ANGUS Chemical Company to
Golden Gate Capital for $1.215 billion. The transaction closed on February 2, 2015.
On November 12, 2014, the Company announced it will reconfigure and reduce its equity base in EQUATE, The Kuwait
Olefins Company K.S.C. ("TKOC"), TKSC and MEGlobal through a divestment of a portion of the Company’s interests.
Dow expects such transaction(s) to be completed by mid-2016.
On November 12, 2014, the Company announced its new divestiture target of $7 billion to $8.5 billion, to be completed by
mid-2016.